Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect on first-degree murder charges Sunday after a pickup truck plowed through an after-hours bar crowd in Golden, killing one person and injuring seven others.

Investigators arrested another suspect as well, a passenger in the truck, on allegations of attempted first-degree murder and felony assault.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Jenny Fulton told Channel 7 early Sunday first responders arrived to a chaotic scene with about 50 people just before 2 a.m. Sunday.

“Victims were laying on the ground,” Fulton said.

Deputies said a white Chevy pickup drove through a crowd after a fight near the Rock Rest Lodge, 16005 Mt. Vernon Road.

The Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call at 1:43 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release Sunday afternoon, “on reports of a hit and run crash involving multiple victims.” 

Deputies discovered one man unconscious, who was later pronounced dead. Medical personnel took four other men to a local hospital. Their conditions were not provided. Three other victims were treated at the scene. 

“The suspect vehicle, a Chevy Silverado, was seen in the area by a responding deputy,” according to the release. “With assistance from Colorado State Patrol, the suspect vehicle was stopped and the driver and two male passengers were taken into custody.”

Officers arrested Ruben Marquez, 29, whom they believe to be the driver. He faces charges of first-degree murder, three counts of accessory to first-degree assault and three counts of accessory to second-degree assault. 

Marquez has been arrested multiple times, according to court documents, and was on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of weapons violation, possession by a previous offender. He was released on enhanced supervision probation Sept. 20, court records show. He’s got multiple arrests dating back to 2009 on drug possession with intent to distribute, weapons violations and car thefts and been sentenced to prison at least twice in that time.

The truck’s owner, Ernesto DeJesus Avila, 25, was a passenger at the time of the crash, according to investigators. He faces charges of accessory to first-degree murder and accessory to second-degree assault. The other passenger, whom was not identified in the release, was not charged. 

The fight happened outside the Rock Rest Lodge just before the truck slammed into the crowd, witnesses told investigators. 

“The altercation involved Marquez, Avila and some of the victims,” according to the release. “Rock Rest employees were able to separate the two parties involved in the altercation. Then, Marquez backed the Chevy Silverado out of a parking spot in the front of the restaurant and it appears he intentionally drove into the victims, striking at least 8 individuals, including restaurant employees.”

Michael McCorry, a student at the Colorado School of Mines, lives across the street from Rock Rest Lounge. He said Sunday he heard everything and knows some employees who work at the bar. A number of those injured were bar employees who tried breaking up the fight before the collision, he said.

“I was looking out my window, and we saw who knows how many cars here — like an uncountable amount of cop cars,” he said. “Then me and a buddy staying over last night were looking over and we realized that there was a body laying by that car that got hit.”

McCorry lent tools to the owner of an El Camino, which was hit by the truck after it plowed through the crowd.

“I have a buddy who worked there, or used to. He quit last week, luckily. Because apparently every male employee there was hit,” McCorry said. “Fights have happened there before, but never this bad.”